SALEM The cremated remains of five Oregon veterans will be laid to rest with full military honors at Willamette National Cemetery, Shelter 1, at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The cremains date back to 1919 and were among those discovered at the Oregon State Hospital in 2004.

The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs worked since then with the state hospital and the Veterans Affairs to identify the cremains of veterans.

Val Conley, Oregon veterans’ affairs deputy director, said the VAs national cemetery system did much of the work to help identify the cremains as follows:

Pvt. James Edward Butler, U.S. Army, who served from Sept. 1940 to May 1941;

Seaman Everett Eugene Irvin, U.S. Navy, May 1918 to July 1919;

Lanier Dick Johnson, (rank unknown), U.S. Navy, Jan. 1917 to Nov. 1919;

Sgt William Julius Madson, U.S. Army;

and Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Frank John Martin, U.S. Navy, June 1943 to March 1946.

The exact dates of their deaths remain unknown.

While we know little about these men, we do know they honorably served their country during one of two world wars. That sacrifice in itself is deserving of a fitting burial with full military honors that this state will give them and to others who are identified later, Conley said.

While agencies could not locate their families, Conley said Martin moved from Illinois to Salem, Madson moved from North Dakota to Oregon and Johnson lived in Portland. Conley said Butlers and Irvins hometowns remain unknown, but Butler once worked at the Doernbecher Manufacturing Company in Portland. Frank Silas Doernbecher created the company around 1900. Doernbecher died in 1921, and his children used a part of his estate to form the Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children.

Willamette National Cemetery is in Portland at 11800 S.E. Mt. Scott Blvd. The Oregon Army National Guard Funeral Honors team will provide military honors at the ceremony. Chaplain Thomas Phillips will preside over the service. Military and civilian officials and the Patriot Guard Riders also wil be in attendance.

Conley will receive the American flag on behalf of the five.